Rock Your Blog With the Right Writing Style

While every blogger can improve their blog through better writing, “better writing” doesn’t mean the same thing for every blogger. There are some common things we can all improve — our spelling, grammar, and paragraph length for example. Beyond those basics, “better writing” largely revolves around your chosen writing style. And it’s important that you choose your blog’s writing style based on your audience rather

Do You Have What it Takes to be a Professional Blogger?

Do you enjoy blogging? Do you enjoy it enough that you’d want to make a career of it? If so, professional blogging might be in your future. But do you have what it takes? Let’s look at what professional blogging means and some of the attributes that you might need if you want to successfully launch a career as a professional blogger. What is Professional

What Are Your 2013 Publishing Goals?

It’s that time of year again when goal-setting and dreams of new achievements fill people’s minds. I’m no exception, and that’s why I shared my overall writing resolutions previously on my freelance writing blog. For me those resolutions include freelance writing goals, Web publishing goals, and publishing goals for books and e-books. Today I’d like to share that last group of resolutions with you and

New Year's Resolutions — 2013 Updates

I know I’m a bit slow to return from my winter vacation time this year, but welcome back! I feel well-rested (after being exhausted by the holidays), and I’m excited to get back to work. I hope you all are as well. Back in November I shared my 2013 writing resolutions with you. Normally I try to evaluate them each quarter, but I knew I

3 SEO Basics for Beginner Bloggers

If you’re getting started as a blogger, chances are good you’ll hear about something known as search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO is everything you do to make your blog rank well in search engine results. Ranking well in search engines can bring more targeted traffic, meaning new readers, to your blog. There are countless “SEO experts” out there who will try to teach you

Happy Holidays! Preparing for 2013

Update: I’ve decided to extend my vacation until Monday, January 7th to spend some more post-holiday downtime with family. I will not be back to regular posting here until that week, but our other contributors will continue to post on their usual schedules.  This week was my last work week in 2012. I’m now on vacation until January 2nd. I hope you’re all enjoying a

Free Blog Business Plan Template

Recently we talked about how to write a blog business plan. As promised, I’ve put together a simple blog business plan template that you can use for your own niche or business blog. Why Have a Blog Business Plan? If you want to make money blogging, a blog business plan is a must. Business plans help you get a better picture of where your business

Deleting Blog Posts: Revisiting the Issue

In the past, we’ve talked about the issue of deleting blog posts and why you shouldn’t do it. Yet I’ve been doing a lot of that over the past couple of weeks. In light of that, I’d like to revisit the issue. My Stance on Deleting Blog Posts My general feelings on deleting blog posts haven’t changed. There are good reasons to leave old posts

2013 New Year's Resolutions for Writers

Update: During my first quarter check-in I updated the list below. Anything in green is currently in progress, and anything with a strike-through has been completed. Last week I shared my 2012 year-end evaluation with you, where I looked over my goals for this year and whether or not I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. Honestly, 2012 was not a great year for

Write a Better About Page for Your Blog

Have you ever visited a blog that didn’t give you any background information in the form of an About page? I have. And I always find that frustrating as a new visitor. I want to know what I should expect if I invest more time in browsing that blog. Today let’s talk about how you can avoid being one of these mysterious bloggers who publishes no background

Are You Ready for Your 2012 Year-End Evaluation?

I know November isn’t quite the end of the year. But with the hectic nature of the holiday season, I like to start a year-end business evaluation a bit early. What I do is look over my initial goals and resolutions for reference, and then check my mid-year check-in and any changed goals to see what I have and haven’t done. This year was not

4 Tips for Avoiding Unintentional Plagiarism

Several days ago I was contacted by fellow freelance writer, Luana Spinetti. She wrote to thank me for a recent post on my business writing blog — one where I talked about the risks business owners take on in hiring bottom-of-the-barrel content writers. In that post I talked a bit about plagiarism and how passing a plagiarism checker (like Copyscape) in no way meant articles

Why Google Chrome is my Favorite Multi-Blog Management Tool

It’s no secret that I manage multiple blogs. Currently I have 50 active WordPress installations — large blogs, small blogs, author sites, business sites, and several in various pre-launch phases. Every work day I have to manage these blogs, including the ones that haven’t launched yet. What does this include? Approving comments that are in moderation queues Deleting spam comments Upgrading any out of date

What is Content Marketing and Why Should You Care?

Have you heard the phrase “content marketing” before but wondered how it applies to you as a blogger? After all, you’re already focused on content every time you write a blog post. Why should you worry about it beyond that, and how can it affect your blog marketing? Let’s take an introductory look at content marketing strategies and why they’re important for bloggers and business

My Interview on Independent Writing and Publishing

I was recently interviewed by Dava Stewart of SmilingTreeWriting.com about independent writing and publishing. I’d like to share a portion of that with you below. If you’d like to read more, please check out the full interview. Dava Stewart: Recently, I heard a well known writer talking about the often repeated phrase “there are no gatekeepers anymore.” He suggested that every reviewer on Goodreads or Amazon

Freelance Writers: How do You Hold Yourself Accountable?

Working as freelance writers, we don’t have an employer or supervisor looking over our shoulder to hold us accountable for how we spend our time. Instead that responsibility falls on us. I’ve always been big on planning and organization to help me get more worked into my schedule. I keep daily and weekly to-do lists. I have four white boards and two bulletin boards in

How to Create a Simple Blog Content Audit Spreadsheet

Recently we talked about the basics of blog content audits. In the comments, Joanna Haugen asked about using spreadsheets to track your plans and progress as you go through the content audit process. I promised a simple tutorial on creating one, and that’s what you’ll find here. Export Your WordPress Data The first thing you’ll want to do is export key data from WordPress. You

5 Basic Blog Post Formatting Tips

When it comes to blogging, how your words are visually presented to the reader can be just as important as what you write. People read differently on the Web than they do in print. And your blog post formatting should reflect that. Here are five basic blog formatting tips that can help you improve your blog post presentation. 1. Use subheadings. Subheadings break up your

Bloggers Beware: WriterBay.com Uses Guest Posts as Link Spam

Update: I received an email from David from Writerbay.com this morning. While we still disagree as to the spam nature of these kinds of contests, I do want to update you about a positive development. The primary concern with the contest was the target list of bloggers that was published for participants. I was informed (and then verified) that the list has been removed. Writers can

Should Freelance Writers Work Overtime?

Do you ever put in long hours, working overtime? Are you strictly against working overtime as a freelance writer? There are good cases both for and against these late nights, working weekends, or whatever kind of overtime schedule you might have. Today I’d like to share a few thoughts on when I work overtime, when I think it’s smart to work extra hours, and why I think

Five Fabulous Books for Freelance Writers

Whether you’re a new freelance writer or you have decades of experience in freelancing, there is always more to learn. That’s why building a professional library is a smart idea. You can learn or refresh yourself on the basics of being in business for yourself. Good books for freelance writers can teach you about new marketing tactics you haven’t tried before. And if nothing else,

3 Basic Business Skills All Freelancers Need

Successful freelancing involves more than having the ability to write (or design, code, or whatever service you offer). Freelancers also need some basic business skills to manage and grow a freelance business. These are the skills that allow you to attract clients, manage finances, and make appropriate plans for the future. Let’s look at three basic business skills all freelancers should have, and resources that

Why I Gave up a $37k Blogging Gig Over Professional Ethics

What do you value more as a freelance writer — money or your reputation and professional ethics? For me, it’s the latter without a doubt. It’s not uncommon for me to turn down new prospects for ethical reasons. There are some niches I won’t touch. And there are clients with histories I wouldn’t want to associate myself with. They include anything from sponsorships from content

What is a Blog Content Audit?

Running a successful blog isn’t only about the new content you create. It’s also about your archived blog posts. Moving forward with strong content is always important. But if you want to improve your blog content strategy, increase traffic and give readers what they really want, you should start with a blog content audit. What is a Blog Content Audit? Think of a blog content

Why Use Pen Names if Not For Privacy?

You know me as Jennifer Mattern. That’s my “real” name, or at least it was before I got married. And it’s the name I’ll continue to use here and in running the bulk of my business. But I’m also pursuing fiction, and for that I use two pen names. I don’t stress over keeping those pen names private though. In fact, I’ve noticed a trend

Do You Stress Each Time Google Unleashes Algorithm Updates?

My inbox has been flooded with newsletters that I subscribe to from SEO, marketing, and Web development sites. And lately all they seem to be talking about is Google. Panda. Penguin. Whatever update they’re rolling out or mucking around with at the moment, it’s always the same cry. “The Internet as we know it is ending! Duck, cover and prepare yourself for plummeting rankings and

Reader Question: Moving Beyond Penny Per Word Writing Gigs

I recently received the below questions from a fellow freelance writer, LeeOnna Sanchez. She wants to know how she can grow her career beyond the penny per word freelance writing gigs she’s been finding on forums and bidding sites. Let’s help her out. I am a freelance writer; started about 3 1/2 years ago. I don’t consider myself to be anything spectacular, but trying to

Getting Insurance for Your Writing Business

I met with a local State Farm agent recently about getting errors & omissions coverage for my freelance writing, blogging, and publishing services. I received notice this morning that they won’t cover my business. The reason? They said their policies don’t cover: Freelance Writers Bloggers Publishers Web content developers Website managers / owners Um… okay? We’re talking about a kind of insurance that’s not exactly

Free Monthly Marketing Calendar for Freelance Writers

I’ve decided to make some changes to my plans for the Web Writer’s Guide e-book. Rather than updating it and moving on with a series, it will remain as-is. Sometime in the next few months I’ll pull it off the market, and much of the information in that e-book will be worked into print books or e-books in the Query-Free Freelancer series. The problem with sticking with the Web

Writers: Make More Money With Your Hobbies

When it comes to freelance writing work where you have to market yourself to clients, I generally suggest not only specializing, but choosing no more than a few specialties. Beyond that, I suggest choosing specialties with similar markets so your promotional work goes farther. But I have an exception to that rule — when I develop my own sites. I’m not only a freelance writer.